Eleven Sons Maison Salée Padthaway Chardonnay 2024

Mitchell Sokolin grew up around wine – he comes from a Russian immigrant family in New York City that has made fine wine retail its trade – so it is perhaps no surprise that he fell into a wine career after completing studies in history and economics at Colgate University. After sommelier roles in some of San Francisco’s most vaunted fine-dining restaurants (including Michelin-starred eateries Michael Mina and Acquerello), he set out to become an international “vagabond winemaker,” eschewing formal training and instead racking up hands-on experience via vintages in Oregon, Spain, Italy, Australia, New Zealand and Georgia.

Grapes are sourced from conscious growers, exclusively from South Australia’s Limestone Coast, and the wines are carved from instinct and intuition as opposed to expectation or tradition.